3rd Trimester! 💙

I’m SO grateful to be this far along in my pregnancy! I truly am. Lord knows I am experiencing almost every ache and pain you could be experiencing at 34 weeks! 

My little boy joy is measuring big...at 34 weeks, the average size is around 4lbs, while my Joy is a whooping 6 pounds and 2 ounces! He’s also sitting low, which is no surprise because he’s been lying low the entire pregnancy but there’s is such intense pressure that I experience I sometimes can’t walk. Long distances- they are a strong No! Sitting for too long isn’t always the answer either because then it takes an entire act of Congress to get up! 

Exaggerations...NO! Definitely not!

This morning as I attempted to roll out of bed to go to the restroom I caught the world’s evil force of a Charlie Horse 🐎 Man when I tell you that stallion seemed to travel up and down my calf as if it was on the horse track. It stifled my movements and took my breathe away. I squeezed the muscle SO tight until the only the I could muster from my mouth was the sweetest name I know...JESUS! Perhaps the pain wouldn’t have been so bad if my belly wasn’t in the way of moving to reach my leg easily, or perhaps the carpal tunnel I’m experiencing in my dominant hand, which, at its worst pain brings a tear to my eye. 

Most nights are low impact. I use pillows to prop up, include my water or...errr Dr. Pepper (give me a break, I can’t drink what I really want so I settle for the burn and sizzling sensation of soda...sue me) and attempt to sleep on my side...which NEVER works! I toss and turn attempting to find a comfortable, suitable position to no avail. I finally dose off somewhere between one and two only to be awaken by the sudden, sometimes painful, kicks, flips, punches (let’s just call it movement) of my precious growing baby boy! 

3am. 3am. 3am! Without fail he wakes me up, because he is WIDE awake moving and shaking at 3am! I’m up, on any given day at 3am I am up from the uncomfortable movement of this active little boy. I say ouch, I shift, I hurl over, then I cower, and lastly I say, “Thank you Jesus for his movement and excitement to meet me.” Then I ask my baby, “What are you doing in there?!” I then, attempt to calm him by rubbing the elbow, knee, arm, head, little bottom that I may be feeling as he seemingly flips around in my belly. 

I then get a slight urge of fear and panic come over me thinking what if the umbilical cord is wrapped around him and he’s trying to get loose! Then I feel no movement for a clear 6 minutes! My heart skips a beat, I close my eyes and say, “Jesus keep my baby secure! I can’t wait to meet him.” And like a switch flip of a light, he moves again. This time calmly...just enough that I know he’s there. He heard me. He relaxes. His small but mighty movements continue until about 4ish am then I fall asleep only to be woken again at about 5ish by my bladder and some slight kicks to it that make me move as fast as I can waddle to the restroom!

Just within the last few days I have a numbing neck pain massaging is the only thing that gives way. When it first begin I couldn’t move my neck from the left, right, up or down, but since then I’ve pushed through and it’s a more manageable pain.

The good news is! Besides my son being healthy is that I’m healthy as well! No signs of preeclampsia like I experienced with Khloé, no swelling of any extremities especially my feet. I do however take precautions by drinking water, taking low grade aspirin, for 20 weeks I’ve had to get progesterone shots in the muscles of my arms (let me tell you! It’s a fighting pain! I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemy...well maybe my enemy...God ain’t through with me yet. In Jesus’ name!) 

I say all this above to say: God bless us Mama’s! We go through a lot to keep our babies safe, some of us to even conceive I’ve been learning through friends and pregnancy groups, to carry our babies a full term, to have a safe and healthy labor and delivery...being a mother, is such a blessing and a natural phenomenon I’m in awe of our strength! 

God bless those trying, those during your pregnancy, and delivering, those contemplating life changing decisions, and those that want but can’t bear! 

Nah. Let’s not do this...

This is a photo taken and below is the link to the article: (RETURNING TO SCHOOL: Thrall ISD, a Central Texas school district in Williamson County, reopened its classrooms Aug. 10, one of the first in this area. Here's a look at what the school day looked like for these kiddos (📸: Thrall ISD): https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/schools/thrall-isd-reopens-school-buildings-august-10-one-of-first-central-texas-school-districts/269-78065b94-54cd-4af3-96c0-db74177c33ef )

So in my mind thinking consciously, and with a pandemic mindset at the forefront, social distancing in school does not have to seem/look/feel lonely. Lunch time could include something engaging like playing music or a show/video on the screen, Bingo, one of those put a finger down if or some other game combination. You could incorporate reading days or book reviews. Classroom teachers usually know how to be inventive with activities for learning during the instructional setting and although group work seems as if it’s the end all be all and ideal at all times, there are instances in...dare I say it; this life where we don’t get to rely on someone else’s opinion or thoughts to formulate an answer to a question or critically think.  Read alouds, silent solos, writing prompts, Gallery walks, show and tell, call and respond, sharing circles were kids are spread apart in groups and have topics to learn and discuss, I could go in and on...but these are all ways to learn in an educational setting and still remain socially distant....AND they are good instructional practices!

I repeat social distancing doesn’t have to look/feel/seem depressing or sad or even mundane. We, the adults, just have to be more inventive and creative. I’m thinking of this pandemic as the resurgence of educational practices. Perhaps we’ve become stagnant in our ways of teaching and stopped thinking outside of the box to inform and entertain kids.

These next few months won’t be a slow walk in the park for anyone because it’s new territory and with new territory you could feel stifled or stuck or lost or discombobulated or even frustrated when you have an idea in your head and the experience doesn’t match the expectation but I’m here to tell you to think positively about the opportunities to shift culture and the entire educational experience!

Use some of the suggestions I gave above or research others. Those few were the ones I came up with while typing out this blog so I’m quite sure if I went back into my mental Rolodex, catalogue of activities, or chose any of the tons of books I have on instruction off my library shelf I could come up with more or adjust and refine something else to fit my needs. You can and should do the same! 

Good luck and reach out to me if needed to assist you! I’m open to help!